Meet Chelsea Spyres, Pastor and Executive Director of Riverfront Ministries and the associated Wilmington Kitchen Collective in Wilmington, Delaware, which she has called home for five years now since returning to her native Delaware. Although Riverfront Ministries has a unique model without a physical church of its own, when a local organization wanted to start an incubator for small culinary businesses, Chelsea saw an opportunity. Realizing that industrial kitchens in traditional churches sit empty most of the time, Chelsea and partners innovated the Collective to put those kitchens, and various other supports, at the disposal of culinary entrepreneurs. Overcoming a lot of doubt and skepticism from churches about sharing space in this way, the Collective has grown into a successful model of faith communities partnering with other community organizations to use church assets to meet a need and drive economic development.

It’s an incredibly dynamic time for the faith sector. From the pandemic abruptly shaking up existing models and strategies, to religious nationalism planting a flag on the political stage, to the Israel/Gaza war straining interfaith relationships globally, to a range of longer-term dynamics in the sector, including the continued growth of the religiously unaffiliated demographic in the U.S., the first half of the 2020s have seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in-between. 

Continue reading to explore a few faith sector trends we’re watching as we head into the second half of the decade. They give us great optimism for the future of faith.

Meet Nate Harding, founder of the Global Flourishing Catalyst Coalition. Nate, who is currently starting his MBA at Oxford University, has been a social impact strategy consultant with Bridgespan, an international education and exchange program leader with World Learning, a leadership coach, and various other roles, including Contributing Editor at innoFaith. Raised in an interracial Christian family while influenced and nurtured by a diverse religious community in Los Angeles, Nate channels all of these diverse influences toward his vision of a world where everyone flourishes.